Not So Horrific Date
by ScriptaHistoriarum
Summary: He was her partner. She couldn't be vulnerable in front of him. He would never let it go. Stupid scary movie! Curse Alya and Nino!


Marinette really should have a word with Alya about her 'date set-up plans'.

Last week, the four of them agreed to go to the movies together; Adrien, Alya, Nino and herself. It should have been that. Just watch the movie, have fun, throw popcorn at each other and leave.

But of course, that wasn't on Alya's schedule.

Marinette was the first one to arrive. She knew Adrien would be a tidbit later, since he sent that in their group chat, but she was wondering where Alya and Nino were. They were usually the punctual ones.

That was until Alya sent that Nino and she couldn't make it for whatever mysterious reason. She wouldn't be surprised if they were just at Nino's place playing videogames so she could have some alone time with Adrien.

She had no hard feelings towards her friends. For as far as they know, she's still crushing on the blond, which she isn't anymore. Okay, so she _maybe_ still is a little bit… much, but she would never tell him that. The cat would get a big head. Besides, he liked Ladybug and not Marinette. He confessed his love to her spotted alter ego (which she rejected because of _him_ she later realized), but stopped any advances once their identities were out. He didn't flirt with her, didn't unnecessarily touch or hug her, didn't call her his lady anymore… she kind of missed it all, but she forced herself to deal with it. He made it quite clear that he had no feelings whatsoever for Marinette, and with that, Ladybug. She had to get over it. Get over him.

It was an accident. An Akuma had powers that drained the energy from people. While wearing the suit, they weren't really considered normal people and thus the thing that ran out of energy wasn't their life force but their Miraculous. He de-transformed in the midst of the attack. She tried to look away in time, but she spotted a tiny glimpse and that was enough. She had his face plastered everywhere on her bedroom walls, she could recognize him anytime. Except when he was wearing cat ears apparently.

She was too shocked to move. She just stared and he stared back and no one moved and… that was when she got hit. Her suit immediately disintegrated and there she was, Marinette Dupain-Cheng in front of Adrien Agreste.

Only, he didn't know that yet. His reflexes were better than hers and once the moment occurred that she got hit, his hands were covering his eyes. He hadn't seen her. She could just say thank you, walk away, recharge and finish the fight. The area was already evacuated and the only person who saw them transform was the Akuma itself, who would forget it all once everything was turned back to normal. Their secrets would be safe.

That was the plan inside her head, but she didn't follow it. The Akuma had long forgotten about them now that they were de-transformed, and was gone doing her own thing. This gave Marinette the time she needed to take steps towards him, grab his hands and pull them away. He still had his eyes squeezed shut and she sighed fondly. He was really loyal.

"It's okay."

That was the only cue he needed and his eyes slowly opened with wonder.

They would have loved to talk and discuss everything, but there was an Akuma to catch. Their Kwamis were all charged up and ready for battle. So were they after their transformation and they finished the Akuma swiftly.

Then it was time to talk. And talk they did.

It was mostly a conversation of "Oh my God, I can't believe it's you," before real talk took place. Promises, sharing information, getting to know each other and their Kwamis better, etcetera. It was a huge boost for their friendship in and out of suit. It was an enigma to a lot of people, but the duo only snickered at their cluelessness and continued with their day as if nothing had changed.

Her mind wandered back to the present when Adrien arrived and waved at her.

"Nino and Alya can't make it," was the first thing she said.

"Really? That's too bad. Well, guess it's just us then," he spoke with a charming smile that should _not_ make her dizzy.

She tried to act cool. She let Adrien get the tickets for the movie (she had no clue which one it was since Alya picked it) and followed him to their assigned seats. He handed her a ticket, saying she could use it to get back in, in case she needed to go to the toilet or something.

That was when she read the title of the movie and she freaked out.

 _Creepers and Crawlers II_? That was a horror movie! She hated horror movies, she was deadly afraid of them. Alya knew that.

That was when she realized that Alya indeed knew that and probably chose that particular movie on purpose. She had planned on dropping out last minute since the beginning!

No way was she going to endure this movie. The last thing she wanted was for herself to become a scared, sobbing mess in front of her partner. He would never leave her alone about the fact that 'strong and brave Ladybug was afraid of some stupid movie'. She just knew her partner too well.

"Do we have to see this movie?" She tried.

"Why? Are you scared?" She could see the smirk making its way on his face.

There it was already. "No! I'm just not very fond of… the theme. Like, ghosts would have been fine, but this one is kinda meh."

"Well, Alya did pay for these. And I doubt there are other tickets available for other movies on such short notice." The lights in the room turned off. "Guess we have to sit through it."

No! She was not ready yet. She had to prepare herself. She subtly slapped herself on the cheeks and mentally motivated herself. She could do this. She just had to use her Ladybug bravery and keep herself from yelling. And if she would get afraid at some point, she would just close her eyes shut and hope he wouldn't see it.

That was immediately what she did when the first zombie appeared.

"Are you okay?"

"F-fine!" She squeaked.

Dang it, she had to keep it together in front of him! But there were so many growls and big slimy animals. She whimpered.

"We can leave if you can't-"

"No! I'm all right!"

Adrien rose an eyebrow, obviously not convinced, but he didn't say anything anymore and returned his focus on the movie. Marinette sighed in relief. She had to stop this! It wasn't _that_ frightening, it was just a movie. She could do this. She could do this! She. Could. Do. This.

That mantra kept on being repeated in her head until the monster appeared in the middle of the screen as a jump scare, and she lost it. She yelped and threw herself against Adrien, burying her face in his chest and clinging to his arm. She didn't care anymore about what kind of lame jokes he would make. Who in their right mind ever thought that making a horror movie in 3D was a good idea?!

Still holding onto him, she was preparing for the worst. Him laughing at her expense, or perhaps he would call her a scaredy-cat.

But that didn't happen.

She felt a hand going to her back and rubbing it. She relaxed and crawled more towards him. Maybe she should have given him more credit. He was kind and considerate most of the time, after all.

He lowered his face to her, his breath tickling her ear. "Let's go. This is not doing you any good."

"No," she whined, trying to aim her gaze at the screen, but returning it to his shirt when she saw a trail of blood. "I want to sit through the movie. Alya paid for these tickets."

"And I'll pay her back, let's leave."

"No, I can _do it_. I want to see what'll happen with that… creepy, scary monster thingy." She shuddered just thinking about it. She could barely look at the screen before averting her eyes from it.

He chuckled. "You don't have to watch this movie to prove to me that you're brave, you know? If anyone knows how brave you are, it's me."

She looked up at him, her chin on his shoulder, and she saw the friendly, charismatic smile on his face that he definitely should get rid of unless he wanted her to get ideas in her head. She couldn't help the corners of her mouth from turning up.

He gestured his head to the exit. "Come on."

She nodded and followed him. The cold evening air was cool on her face and calmed her down. She was still shivering from the aftereffects of the movie and Adrien wordlessly put an arm around her shoulder. Her cheeks profusely flushed, but she only thanked him and continued their walk. She looked around the neighborhood and figured that, with the direction they were going, he was walking her home.

"I'm gonna kill Alya," she pouted.

Adrien laughed. "I'm sure she just wanted to use it as an excuse to hold onto Nino if they would have showed up." Marinette frowned, knowing that Alya loved horror movies and wasn't easily startled, but she didn't say anything. She didn't want to raise any suspicion. "I still wonder why they couldn't make it though."

She only shrugged. "I don't know either."

They reached her house quite soon. She was sad that she had to leave his hold but was glad that she was home and could crawl in her bed.

"Do you want to wait inside for your driver?" Marinette asked.

He shook his head, then looked sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck. "Actually… I kind of snuck out? I'll just transform and slip in my room. I hope Nathalie hasn't checked on me, but haven't been getting calls or texts, so I think I'm good."

"That's really irresponsible!" She exclaimed, slapping his shoulder. "But fine. Go home quickly. See you tomorrow."

He smiled and waved. "See you tomorrow, My Lady."

He stopped in his tracks when the name slipped from his lips. They stared at each other, neither sure what to do.

"I-"

Marinette had her arms clamped around him before he could finish. He was taken aback for a second, but returned the hug soon after. Marinette looked up at him, her chin resting on his chest. With their height difference, Adrien had to look down. Their eyes lingered on each other again. Adrien's arms lowered themselves to her back, Marinette's hands holding his shoulders and they leaned in.

"Adrien, I finished all the Camembert. Can we hurry it up? Or does Marinette have anything?"

"Plagg!" Tikki zipped in front of the black Kwami, muffling his speech by pressing her little digits to his mouth. "Continue, you two."

Both Adrien and Marinette blushed, realizing the situation now that they were interrupted and released each other as if they were hot iron.

"Great, you ruined the moment, Plagg," Tikki scolded.

"There was no moment!" They said simultaneously.

Plagg and Tikki only shared a knowing glance at each other.

Adrien coughed awkwardly. "I, uhm, I think I need to go."

"Yes, of course! Totally. Definitely. You should. I'll… see you tomorrow."

He nodded. He kept standing there for a few seconds before shaking his head and calling on his transformation. She had to admit it was always mesmerizing to see.

He saluted with a wink a lá Chat Noir and was on his way. She waved at him one last time before heading inside. She greeted her parents, said she had a good time and was on her way to bed. She was exhausted.

All freshened up and in her pajamas, Marinette laid down in bed. She said good night to Tikki and turned off the light. She closed her eyes and slowly tried to drift off to sleep.

That was until her window creaked from the wind outside. Her eyes shot open. When the sound died down, she closed them again.

A dog howled outside and her eyes were open again. She pulled the blankets higher to her face and was back to sleep, or at least trying to.

She shuffled and rolled around in her bed to get comfortable. She used her pillow to drown out all the sounds from around her, but there was always something. Then the floor was making weird noises, then something was tickling her leg, then her stomach was gurgling (which made her almost scream that there was a monster coming out of her, but she held herself in). She couldn't take it anymore and grabbed her phone. She picked the contact she was looking for and sent just one message.

 _I can't sleep._

She didn't know if he would even read it. Surely, he had come home a long time ago and was already in bed sleeping. She felt bad for perhaps waking him up, and for what? There wasn't anything he could from his home for her.

She waited for a message back but she never got one. She sighed. Guess she just had to suck it up and try to sleep. Or maybe she could stay awake all night. That way she would be so tired tomorrow that she would fall asleep instantly.

A knock was heard above her and she yelped. They were coming for her! They were here and real and ready to take her!

"Marinette?" Asked a voice above, muffled because of the hatch.

Her eyes widened at the voice. She immediately threw it open and launched herself at him.

"You scared me!" She lectured. "I was so afraid and there were all these noises and weird things and then you come without a message and-"

He shushed her, rubbing the back of her head. "It's okay. I'm here." He felt her shiver because the cool midnight air. "Let's go inside. We don't want you to freeze." They crawled back in her room. Only when she was situated back in bed, him lying next to her, did she feel relaxed. "You think you can sleep now?"

She nodded. "Do you think you can stay until I fall asleep?"

He smiled kindly. "Of course, My Lady." It was like putting a toe in the deep end of the pool. Using that term for her could be dangerous, but she only blushed, smiled and settled herself more against him.

"Thank you." It didn't take long for her to be out. She was incredibly tired indeed.

He was to stay for only a short time. He could stay for as long as he wanted, he was checked on already and was supposed to be asleep, but it wasn't the plan. He had apparently fallen asleep and the next time he woke up, it was light outside.

He had de-transformed in the meantime and saw Plagg all huddled up with Tikki. He grabbed the nearest thing to check the time, which was her phone.

6:17

Okay. They had enough time. He could just wake up Plagg, slip out and return home before Nathalie would wake him. And before Marinette would awaken.

He tried to move out of her hold on him. Her arms completely encircled him. He carefully tried to peel off her hands and she sighed. "Adrien," she whined. "Just a little longer." Her hold only became tighter.

He smiled. "But it's morning, My Lady."

It took her a second to process his words. Once they reached her tired brain, she opened her eyes. "What? You spend the night? What time is it? Did we miss school? Did my parents see you? Did your father see you were missing? Did-"

"Calm down, Marinette. It's only something past six, we have enough time. And neither did my father notice my absence nor did your parents see me. Unless they went inside and let us sleep, but I doubt that. Knowing your father, I bet he would drag me out of bed demanding answers and since that hasn't happened, I think we're safe."

She relaxed herself, sinking back into the matrass. "Okay. Good."

"I do need to leave though, before they _do_ miss me at home."

"Right, right. I'll see you out." Tikki and Plagg had woken up in the meantime, most probably because of Marinette's freak-out, and joined them. Once on her balcony, she yawned and leaned against the railing. She squeezed her eyes at the burning sunlight.

Adrien yawned too, stretching his limbs. "Guess I see you in a bit."

"Yeah," she responded and went in for a hug, he returned it sleepily. During it, memories of last night invaded their minds. The way she felt warm when he held her, they he would look at her like she was his whole world, making her feel safe and calm. Marinette looked up at him yet again and he looked down.

Then they leaned in.

Tikki, instantly seeing what was happening, basically tackled Plagg to the ground to shut him up before he could say anything.

When their lips touched for the first time, Marinette gasped and pulled back. Adrien smirked at her and she giggled, going in again, now with more certainty. Her hands were curling in on his chest, his in her hair and pulling her up. They walked backwards until her back hit the railing. He pulled her up and set her on the railing. Her legs locked around his waist and she fisted the material of his shirt. He groaned and scratched her scalp.

"M'Lady…"

She answered with her tongue and a moan. She was breathless and dizzy and she never wanted this moment to stop. They had to at some point, obviously. When they parted, Adrien gave her a kiss on her forehead and looked her in the eyes.

"T-thank you for s-staying with me t-tonight," she stuttered, still trying to catch her breath.

"Of course," he mumbled, leaning their foreheads together. "I really need to go."

She nodded, biting her lip. "Okay. I'll see you later."

He couldn't keep himself from giving her one more kiss. He called Plagg for his transformation and left with a lot of effort. Every time he said goodbye, he got lost in her eyes and was pulled back to her. She didn't want him to leave either, but he had to. He would have stayed longer if it wasn't for her insistence.

Marinette plopped down on her bed and hugged her pillow to herself, squealing.

"Tikkiiiii!"

The red Kwami only giggled. "Oh Marinette…"

"I kissed him and he kissed me and I miss him and want see him again and-"

"Calm down, it's okay. You'll see him soon enough and I'm sure he's excited to see you too."

Marinette agreed and put on her clothes for the day. She went downstairs not too soon after, much to her mother's surprise at being this early, and was in a good mood during breakfast the whole time. She couldn't wait to go to school. She watched T.V with her father to kill some time, her leg bouncing impatiently. Her father asked if something was the matter, but she only responded that she was excited to see her friends again.

Even though the walk to school was only a minute, it took too long. She was even earlier than any other of her friends so she sat alone on the stairs and waited. She really wanted to see him again.

They had to talk things through. They kind of just… left things.

Her ears perked up when a car stopped. It wasn't his car. Just some random kid's. Sigh.

A few minutes later, another car pulled up, and that was the car she was looking for.

Beautiful blond hair stepped out of the car, said goodbye to the driver and turned to the school. When he spotted her, he immediately smiled. She wanted to jump in his arms but she held herself back. He stopped in front of her when he reached the stairs.

"Hey."

"Hey."

They kept standing there in silence, two blushing messes.

"Oh please, just do it already. You obviously want to jump each other."

Adrien deadpanned then sighed. Marinette only giggled and shook her head. "He's a subtle one, isn't he?" She said.

"I'll keep him in check. You two have fun." Tikki pulled Plagg by his tail inside Marinette's bag.

"No! Adrien, please. Don't leave me alone with her. Have mercy!" He whined but it was drowned out once he was inside the back.

"At least yours is considerate," Adrien grumbled.

"Yeah, Tikki is very nice. Yours is uhm…"

He laughed. "Plagg has a very… strong personality." Without warning, he grabbed her hand, pulling her to him. "Let's head inside, okay? Maybe… talk in the library?"

She nodded and let him lead her to their destination. A few people who recognized them rose their eyebrows at them holding hands, but nobody mentioned anything.

"I have a question," she said.

"Ask away."

"Why… why did you call me your lady yesterday?"

He frowned. "I've always done that."

She shook her head. "No. I mean, yes, but you… stopped."

He sighed. "I didn't want to make you uncomfortable, knowing it was me calling you that. I care about you too much."

"I kind of missed it actually. I thought you didn't like me anymore," she pouted.

"What?" They reached the library and he pulled her behind the first bookcase he saw. "That's insane. You have no idea how much I like you." He brushed their noses together. "You'll always be my Lady. If you're okay with that."

She smiled and stood on the tip of her toes to reach him.

Not a lot of talking took place, but they did… show how they felt about each other, which was enough for now. They could always talk later.

As long as they had each other, everything would always fall into place. It took them awhile to realize it, but they finally listened to their hearts and gave in to the feelings. The only thing necessary for them to realize it, was apparently a scary movie. That reminded her, next time she saw Alya and Nino, she had to give them a big hug and kiss. They totally deserved it.

* * *

 **I'm not really loving this, but this has been on a post-it for a while and I wanted to get rid off it. I have more ready and they will be written fairly soon, I hope. I have my musical premiere this week which is super exciting but stressful. Anyway, I take requests for Miraculous Moments, so hit me up with ideas. You can comment on either of my stories (do mention it's for Miraculous Moments) or talk to me on multiple social media with the same name (ScriptaHistoriarum). I think I'm on Instagram and Tumblr. I'm not very active on either, but I'll get your messages.**

 **Okay, I'm done with this long paragraph. Gonna play LA Noire. See ya!**


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